You hear it all the Time but are you really prepared. Prayers PLEASE

[skydiverbry 0]

i"ve been in the sport 9 years although i stopped jumpin about a year and half ago. I lost 3 very good ones burn in. one ya could say was more like a brother. You will never be prepared or get used to seein that or especially seeing or dealing with the family or kids afterword. But I'll tell ya this keep jumpin and you will see more of it and some may be alot worse of a scene. From my point I took the risk payed the price by watching people hurt killed and my self involved in an accident that left me in chronic pain, unable to do alot of what i used to and hear alot of 'Itold you so' Condolences do go out to all involved but no pity. IT is a very unforgiving sport in more ways than one but you choose to stay or walk away! Please PM me if ya need or want to find out how I've dealt with what I went through. BLUE SKIES BLACK DEATH Bryan

--------------------------------------------------
Growing old is mandatory.Growing up is optional!!

D.S.#13(Dudeist Skdiver)

[kelel01 1]

That's sooo sad. My thoughts are with her and her family in this horrible time. Tandem fatalities are such awful (and thankfully rare) occurrences.

[catfishhunter 1]

Thank You {{{{{Lisa}}}} And eveyone {{{{ELSE}}}}

Just keep everyone involved in your prayers. I will work through my emotions over this.

Had someone put it into perspective for me albiet rather harshly.."it is not like it was me or someone I know that died" Kinda pissed me off when they said that but part of that is true. My emotions are of sadness for those who where involved especially the litte girl who is without a mother now and for JVC who I consider a Kindred Spirit. Those two lives have forever been linked and changed but their lives are not mine as it was so bluntly stated.....Kinda a harsh way to get me to look at the big picture and work through my emotions instead of sitting on my pity pot wondering if I want to jump again blah blah blah...

Love you Lisa! And Chile thanks for the PM expect a call Brother.

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[kenz 0]

i am so sorry to hear that you had to witness not only the incident itself but the family witness the incident - i cannot even fathom what you are going through because i have not experienced that myself - i will call myself lucky so far, for whatever reason i missed seeing two bad incidents this summer but i am thankful for that...

my thoughts and prayers are with you and the family of the victims - may the ti have a speedy recovery and hopefully that girl will be surrounded by all the love and support that she is going to need

"life does throw curveballs sometimes but it doesn't mean we shouldn't still swing for the homerun" ~ me

[catfishhunter 1]

Thank You {{{KENZ}}}

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[SkyDekker 1,143]

Thanks for saying what I was thinking...

the risk/reward comparison between immunization and skydiving isn't apples to apples. Immunization protects your child from death or severe illness with the small posibility that it kills the child.

Skydiving makes you happy and has the chance of killing you. If you truly want to compare and come out ahead you have to be convinced that the benefit of you skydiving to your children is greater than the downside of your children watching you burn in.

Dropzones are not for children. It is an adult playground. That was one of the main reasons I stopped skydiving. I didn't want my son to hang around a dropzone waiting for Daddy to jump from the sky. I would rather spend the time with him directly. Secondly, I would rather spend the money on him and his education than on skydiving.

[kenz 0]

no need for a thank you - just know you will be in my thoughts and prayers ***hugs***

"life does throw curveballs sometimes but it doesn't mean we shouldn't still swing for the homerun" ~ me

[skymonkeytdyes 0]

I wanted to put a little different spin on the tangent. I am the child of what 'normal' people might call a daredevil. My father did motorcross, hillclimbing, racing, hang gliding, flew planes, gliders and all kinds of other things. As a child, it never occured to me that he was being selfish, it occured to me that I even though I might be scared for him sometimes, I was also VERY proud that my father did things other kids dads didn't do. He pushed the boundries of what our family thought was acceptable behavior and taught me to do the same by his example. I am not saying that I don't feel for this little girl just like I feel for the son of my two of my best friends, one of which was recently killed in a BASE accident. I just want to say that the issue is more complex than the black and white judgements on either side. I was always proud of my father's accomplishments and his example is why I skydive and fly. I will always be grateful for that. I applaude the skydiver parents and those who decided they don't want to do it anymore. No one does this unthinkingly and there is no other issue in which perfect strangers think they know what's best for you. You don't.

You say, what's that sound coming out of the hole in the wood?

[livendive 8]

Quote

Here is a Picture of JVC with one of my best Friends Tammy before he took her for her First Jump... Please Keep praying for him.....I cannot fathom what he is going to go through once he pulls through the physical trauma

I was doing tandems with JVC a little over two weeks ago in LP. He's a fun, nice guy, and a good tandem instructor as well. He's in my thoughts.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[SkyDekker 1,143]

I agree with you....but do you think your father did all that because it would benefit you, or because he enjoyed doing it?

There is no inherent reward to a kid when their parent skydives. No reward at least that could not also be relayed in a different way. Justifying risky behaviour by saying it benefits the family is not really valid in my opinion.

[tigra 0]

Thank YOU for saying that. That was exactly my point. Be honest with yourself at least about why you are skydiving.

[skymonkeytdyes 0]

I know perfectly well that he did it for his own reasons, he didn't do it for me at all. I just wanted to let people know that I got some very positive things out of having a 'daredevil' for a father. I wouldn't trade the emotional benifits I got from watching him do something even though it scared the hell out of him and I'm glad he didn't give that stuff up for me. That's my perspective from growing up in that envirnment. I know that skydiver parents who give it up for their kids don't grow to resent their children for that sacrifice, that's their choice. I just don't agree with the blanket statements about what's right for everybody because every situation is different. A different child from me might have been angry that my father did those things. I turned it into something positive in my life; something for me to take with me when he is gone as we all will be. He showed me the beauty in pushing myself, the level we reach when we go beyond something we're scared of. I will be forever grateful for having him in my life.
My point is that the issue is more complex and I wanted to say that I gained a lot in my life from a thrill-seeking father. I'm not promoting it for everyone, just saying that there's a different side to it.

You say, what's that sound coming out of the hole in the wood?

[skydivermom 0]

First of all, what did I ever do to you? I thought I was just posting my sympathies and expressing what skydiving means to ME AND MY FAMILY. No, I don't mind being critisized when the person doing the critisizing has some knowledge base for it. It bothers me when people try to counsel me and know zero about me or my situation. Especially when I wasn't asking for advice. Now, I do realize that you don't have to ask for it to get it.

Something that concerns me is the quick assumptions you made that I am neglecting my kids to skydive. If you had some firsthand knowledge to back this up (like my boys had shoes that were too small and not enough to eat and I was jumping) then I could understand and even accept that. What you don't know is that I only jump once a month and that I have been a stay-at-home mom from day one. Oh, and by the way, I also homeschool. We are very involved in a homeschool group and my son does martial arts and loves it. There has never been a time when we've missed any of his activities because of my skydiving. Still think it's all about me?

Yes, I'm skydiving for me, I never said I wasn't. But just because we do something just for us doesn't mean people closest to us don't get something out of it as well. If you don't believe me just ask any counselor or psychiatrist. Also, I feel great when skydiving whether anyone is there to watch me or not. I don't depend on my children to boost anything.

Why are you preaching to me about being an involved parent when you have no clue what I do with my children? How would you feel if I posted attacks on your parenting skills without knowing anything about you? I know some parents who skydive and they have gone into debt to do it and are out there every weekend jumping! Should I give you their information so you can slam them?

You are telling me to grow up?! Most grownups I know try to get the facts first before making these kind of broad assumptions. And you don't get to decide if a dropzone is the place for my kids or not. If everyone felt that way I don't think Skydive Spaceland would have a playground and swimming pond for the children.

I don't know what your problem is, but I do know it's YOUR problem.

Mrs. WaltAppel

All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

[catfishhunter 1]

Please take your discussion to PM's or start another thread

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[skydivermom 0]

My kids are well taken care of thank you very much! You don't know what I do or don't understand or what I have or haven't been through. Yes I am new to this sport but does that mean my family can't enjoy what I'm doing as well? I wasn't trying to force my ideas or opinions on anyone...but just merely stating what skydiving means to me and my family.

My husband almost became a police officer several years ago and yes I thought about the possibilities, but I knew we couldn't live our lives in fear. I just wish you all would try and get to know me first and get all the facts before you come at me with both barrells. How would you feel if I did that to you?

Mrs. WaltAppel

All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

[Mike111 0]

I agree with you fully on that.

I don't what happaned on this veyr trajic incident but may i offer my sincere condolences to all involved and that my thoughts and prayers are with you.

Take Care,

mike

[skydivermom 0]

I did try the PM thing and I wished she would have PMd me instead of posting on this thread again.

Mrs. WaltAppel

All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

[thelimit 0]

Sorry to hear. Those words will never sound good to anyone ready or not. Hope JVC pulls through. My thought, and always has been, on kids and dz is that they should not be there. I understand they like to watch and finding sitters and all, that comes with. But there's no price on having your kids seeing you die/get hurt. Kids comes first, sports/hobbies should not be on top of the list. I know some of you will get all flustered maybe at this. I've never taken my kids to a sport I knew was a potential life/death situation at any moment. They don't deserve to see this. Yeah yeah you can get hurt at any sports...But really some are worst then others!

[Amazon 7]

Welcome to the questioning that occurs after you see a fatality. I really think its far harder on those of us watching it than on the people involved. I wish I could say it gets better over time.. but I can still see each one of the people and the circumstances of each one I have seen, and this goes back to the mid seventies with the very first one I saw of George the old german one legged guy under a streamer at Greene County.

Focus on the good stuff and mourn the passing but always remember the good stuff. After being in the sport for 9 years.. I gave it up for a long time... due to family and responsibility. I found other outlets to get into the sky or out on the water using my beloved wind.
Since I have come back to the sport I have been witness to some severe injures and have known some of the fatalities that have shown up here on the Incidents forum. Mourn your friends and move on. Its not easy but its what we have to do. If you continue or not in the sport you will get to know people who will hurt themselves.. sometimes seriously and you WILL know some of the people who show up here in Incidents. The longer you are in the sport the better chance you have of knowing one of them. If you travel and go to boogies you stand an even better chance of knowing one of them. AT the end of the day we have to live our lives as we decide. Live a full life and savour the good things.

[skybytch 259]

Quote

I agree with you fully on that.

Me too.

John, there's nothing I can say that will make this better for you. I wish there was. I've been lucky enough to have never witnessed a fatality.

Several people who witnessed my first skydiving mentor's death quit jumping shortly thereafter, and those of us who didn't quit all understood why. Whatever decision you make about jumping again, know that you'll always have family at the dropzone.

My thoughts are with JVC and everyone who knows him. Does anyone have an update on his condition?

[Zennie 0]

My most sincere condolences. What a gut-wrenching thing to have to witness.

I really dread the day I actually see something like that happen. I saw an almost-fatality where the person walked away and it still screwed up my head for a couple of weeks.

The children having to see it would be heartbreaking. I'm sorry you had to witness something so terrible and I completely understand the feelings you're having.

What you saw is tragic, but no less tragic than those who have seen family and friends killed in other accidents, wars or natural disasters. They all cause horrible emotional anguish. They all make us question "Why?".

In the end you must do what your soul tells you to. Don't make any hasty decisions one way or another. Take some time to reflect, sort through your feelings and then decide what is best for you.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[SkyDekker 1,143]

Quote

My point is that the issue is more complex and I wanted to say that I gained a lot in my life from a thrill-seeking father. I'm not promoting it for everyone, just saying that there's a different side to it.

I completely agree and I have absolutely no issue with parents who skydive or engage in other "dangerous" sports. But, only if they are honest about it and don't say that skydiving is safer than driving a car and it is great for the kids. Only, if they are honest about it.

[rhino 0]

Quote

all those you tried to convince they should jump at least once?"

I'm sorry you had to see this..

I can tell you that I HAVE NEVER convinced anyone to jump. That has to be their decision and theirs ALONE. I never convince people to jump. They just want to because I do. I ever push or pull. I am completely neutral because of this reason.

[gjhdiver 0]

Quote

I don't know what your problem is, but I do know it's YOUR problem.

Actually, your problem appear to be that you don't realise that when you are in a hole, you should stop digging.

Your railing against being called selfish whilst hijacking a condolence thread to trumpet what a great parent you are is the perfect example of self obsessed selfishness.

Get a few more jumps in your logbook and a few more years in the sport, and perhaps you'll gain a little more perspective and maturity. Then you may look back on these posts and be as embarassed for your behaviour then, as you should be now.

[RhondaLea 3]

Quote

Quote

I don't know what your problem is, but I do know it's YOUR problem.

Actually, your problem appear to be that you don't realise that when you are in a hole, you should stop digging.

Your railing against being called selfish whilst hijacking a condolence thread to trumpet what a great parent you are is the perfect example of self obsessed selfishness.

Actually...

...that's not what happened. I don't agree with her position, but her first post was one of condolence and reflection. It was not offensive, and it was very much on topic.

What happened after that is the bastard child of criticism and defensiveness.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb